


We'll Never Burn Out

by Diaryofanarcissisticgayman



Series: Let the Walls Come Down [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Happy Ending, Multi, Polyamorous boys are life, because these boys deserve it, no angst for once
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 02:50:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17931413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diaryofanarcissisticgayman/pseuds/Diaryofanarcissisticgayman





	We'll Never Burn Out

“You’re back.” Niall hums, climbing up from the couch and his typewriter to press a kiss to Calum’s cheek.

“We’re all back.” Molly points out, folding her arms over her chest.

“The difference is, Calum was lovely, and, if I remember correctly, you were a little shit.” Niall snorts. “Now go on and get out of here. Go to your play, before I remember exactly what you said ten years ago and ground you for a month.”

“Thanks, Uncle Niall!” Freddie grins, taking Molly by the hand and sprinting off with her through the door.

“Love you!” Molly calls over her shoulder.

“Love you more!” Niall calls after her. “And don’t be out past eleven! You have school in the morning!”

He can feel her roll her eyes, but he’ll let it go, just this once. She did just help save the world, after all. So did that little devil child Freddie, unfortunately. Niall just fucking knows that this is Louis’ doing. He’s enamored with the idea of Freddie and Molly ending up together.

Niall is not.

“Stop it.” Ashton says, walking into the room with Harry on his back, chin hooked over his shoulder, nuzzled in his neck. “You know he’s a perfectly lovely lad. You couldn’t stop cooing over him a minute ago.”

“That was different.” Niall says firmly, crossing his arms over his chest. “That was little Freddie. I miss when they were all little. They were better when they were little.”

Little Freddie was a delight, and seeing Molly that young again hit him with a wave of emotion so strong that it took Harry, Luke and Ashton just to set him right. She’s just grown up so damn much. Past-Calum had freaked out the most, so Harry and Ashton had taken him off to explain things, even though Harry had had to place a memory erasure spell on all of them so that they wouldn’t remember a moment of their time here.

Knowing the future could very dramatically change things, and none of them want that. They learned better about that kind of meddling a decade ago.

“You mean that they were nicer to you when they were little.” Luke giggles, opening his arm back up for Niall to retake the spot that he had been in a minute ago, curled up in his side. Niall gladly takes it, and then offers the same to Calum.

“I just- I want another baby.” Niall admits quietly.

“Well, with the way we’ve been trying to put one in Luke or Harry for so long, I don’t think that’s really possible.” Ashton grins, earning himself a smack on the chest from Harry, who gets promptly dumped on his arse for it. At least Ashton dropped him on the couch this time. Niall hates owing Freddie favors for fixing Harry’s back. “But I’m still very willing to keep trying.”

“I’m serious.” Niall sighs.

“We know.” Harry chuckles, draping himself over Luke to stroke Niall’s cheek, and giggling when Luke turns and blows hot air over his stomach. “I could probably get Freddie to change me into a woman for a year, if that’s what you want.”

“No.” Calum, Ashton and Luke all say in unison.

“You’re all just saying that because you don’t like pussy.” Niall scoffs, kicking at Ashton in particular when he drops onto Calum, and by extension adds weight onto Niall. He turns back to Harry and smirks as he adds, “I think it’d be right hot.”

“Nobody is changing their genetics.” Calum says firmly.

“El has been popping out babies constantly.” Ashton hums. “You could just take one of theirs. I don’t think they’d even notice for at least a week.”

“Could always do a one-nighter with a bird.” Niall says with a hum. “Babs would probably-”

“Not on your life.” all four of them say together, cutting Niall off.

“Fine!” Niall huffs. “Dash all my baby dreams!”

“If Louis has his way, then we’ll probably have a grandkid running around in about five years or so.” Luke says with a devilish grin. He’s trying to give Niall a heart attack, clearly.

“I’m too young to be a grandad.” Harry sighs.

“Good thing that it’s not going to bloody happen then!” Niall hisses. “I’m going to have the talk with both of them so many times that it takes any kind of fun out of sex and they both stay celibate forever!”

“Hypocrite.” Luke snorts. “You were a dad at nineteen.”

“And Molly will learn from my mistakes or I will chain her up in the basement until I’m old enough to handle the idea of a grandkid.” Niall mutters. “I’m going to wallpaper every building in this whole valley in condoms.”

“You’re insane.” Calum says with a contented sigh, snuggling into Niall’s chest and reaching across so he can hold onto Luke and Harry’s hands. “I missed this. Didn’t like going back and not being able to feel all of you like this.”

“It was definitely weird having you here and not being able to feel you like normal.” Ashton says with a small smile, burrowing his face in Calum’s neck. “Forgot how good you looked with that blond hair, though. Proper hot, that was.”

“You with the red was a good look too.” Calum hums. “But I still prefer now to then. Too stupid back then, all of us.”

Niall would probably say something, but he knows that he has the least room to talk out of any of them. He’d taken the longest to let go of his fears. It was all he wanted in the world, to have this family all together instead of splintered, but happiness was always his greatest fear back then, wasn’t it? The idea of letting himself be at peace was foreign and terrifying. He’d never felt a true moment of it in his life until after the war.

There was always another enemy to fight, another monster hidden in the shadows. It took a year of working with Harry to get him to stop being so fucking scared all the time, even when he knew there was nothing left to be scared of.

Calum had warmed to the idea first, and Luke quickly after. Harry, of course, had taken a minute to get used to polyamory, because jealousy doesn’t just disappear overnight, no matter how much he had insisted it did. And Ashton had been hesitant at first, trying not to overstep. He was so scared of being rejected again, so scared of losing everything again, that he held himself back.

But Ashton’s own words to Niall in the past had been the obstacle that Niall just couldn’t get past for the longest time. He had broken the promise of ‘someday’, and it felt like he didn’t deserve a second chance when he’d already had so many.

So, of course, it was Ashton that had made him realize that he wasn’t taking that chance, but was being given it, because whether or not he deserved it wasn’t up to him to decide. It was up to them, and they chose yes. It was a lesson that he’d already learned, and passed on to Niall when he’d realized Niall’s fears.

Harry had connected each of them with a journey into each other’s souls, building new neurological pathways while Alamogordo was still soaked in radiation that brought them all closer. Feeling each other like this- It’s heaven. The feedback load is shared by all of them, so they never lose themselves in each other, but they can always feel each of the others, and nobody is above the rest.

They’re open and honest, and it’s something that all these years later still takes his breath away, because his whole life had been spent in secrets and isolation.

“They just need time.” Niall says with a hum. “They’ll get where we are eventually.”

“I dropped some hints, just in case.” Calum says softly. “Hate to think I might have changed things, just for this all to disappear.”

“It didn’t, or we wouldn’t be here right now.” Harry tells him, squeezing his hand as he leans his head on Niall’s shoulder. “So, I think everything worked out perfectly. Got everything we ever wanted, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Niall says, leaning back into the couch to settle in for a lazy night with the loves of his life. He has a feeling that none of them are going anywhere for a while, and Molly will probably join the pile of limbs when she gets home, though she’ll pretend that it doesn’t bring her just as much comfort and joy as it does them, because teenagers are just like that, apparently. He’s in the last chapter of the memoire that he’s been writing for the last two years, but that doesn’t matter tonight. He can finish it later.

He’s got time and love aplenty for inspiration.


End file.
